Reason No. 365

I love Amélie much much much more than I did 365 days ago because over the past year she has grown even more lovely, very thoughtful, incredibly bright particularly on spelling and writing, and she takes huge joy in even the smallest thing - as shown by her very excited reaction when she heard I was going to take her to school tomorrow.

I love Seth much much much more than I did 365 years ago because over the past year he has become an even more gorgeous boy, hugely creative, very focussed on things he's interested in and with a vivid imagination - demonstrated by discussion of our future holiday in Venice which seems to involved racing cars down the Grand Canal instead of boats!

And that's it - the last reason, although I'm sure I'll continue loving them more and more each day. But I've no idea what I'll blog about now!

Reason No. 364

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he was very excited about his piano lesson today where he played a piano-related game on his teacher's iPad and he got a gold, silver and bronze award.

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because when she was walking back from school today with TWBD, he asked her what the special name for the new grass they had laid was (artificial) and she said straight off "fake!"

Reason No. 363

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because during breakfast, when I was well on my way to London, some piano music came on the radio and she got very confused, looked upstairs and said "that sounds just like Mummy playing".

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he is getting really good with maths, particularly fractions, and regularly tells us that 2 halves makes 1 and 3 halves makes 1 and a half.

Reason No. 362

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because bounced in to and out of school on his first day back, clearly delighted to be there.

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she read so nicely to TWBD this evening that Seth stopped playing and went over to listen.

Reason No. 361

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because at bedtime she said that her best part of the day wasn't the snuggling up watching a film at lunchtime but was when she was writing up her holiday diary for school which took a lot of work and was fab.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because at bath time he lay back in the bath and said "this is the life!"  I've no idea where he got that from!

Reason No. 360

I love Seth and Amélie more than I did yesterday because they were really good today playing really well together, making up games, and behaving well during a shopping trip with TWBD - all allowing me to get on with some work catch-up.

Reason No. 359

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she was so lovely to Seth at tea time when they shared a biscuit where she got the bigger half - and she voluntarily pulled a bit off hers to give it to him.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he was really sweet to Amélie when she was very upset (mostly through tiredness) and he went and gave her a really big kiss and a cuddle.

Reason No. 358

I love Seth and Amélie more than I did the day before yesterday because they were so excited to be on the beautiful beach near Caen and ran up and down it collecting fantastic shells. And then they did really well waiting for the late ferry back to England and went straight to sleep in our cabin.

Reason No. 357

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she walked to, and around, Mont St Michel in absolutely pouring rain, with water dripping from her fringe, and never complained once.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he walked to the top of Mont St Michel and said he wanted to go in the church at the top "because the mountain might fall down but I trust the church".

Reason No. 356

I love Seth and Amélie more than I did yesterday because they were exceptionally well behaved last night on the ferry - apart from a couple of toilet trips, they slept through the night and even tolerated  very slow disembarkation because of a broken down car (not ours thankfully!).

Reason No. 355

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because we are currently in the restaurant on our ferry and she described it as "the best restaurant I've ever eaten in" - and it is the best value child's meal ever with 3 huge courses and a gift for £5.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because we were watching the news about Margaret Thatcher dying and David Cameron came on and Seth said "I do not trust that guy!"  He's very astute really!

Reason No. 354

I love Seth and Amélie more than I did yesterday because we all went to Sumo Sunday at Yo Sushi (or So Yushi as Seth called it) and between us ate 30 plates of sushi. I love that they can really put away the raw fish!

Reason No. 353

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because at tea time, during a discussion about foods that she and Seth like/don't like she declared that "Seth doesn't like those round cabbage ball things that we only eat at Christmas". I presume she means sprouts.....

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he is exceptionally polite to strangers, like when we went for a car test drive today and he kept wanting to talk to the man at the garage saying "Excuse me but....." several times over.

Reason No. 352

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he's developing a real love for cars, and a real aptitude for driving - at least electronically - so much so that he bought an Audi TT today (one day he'll buy me a real one!).

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she sat still like an angel - and yakked like the devil - while having her hair cut today. And she came out looking even more like an angel than she did before!

Reason No. 351

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because, when we were out at Eureka and Seth wanted to play in a sandpit, she said "Seth you can do anything you want, so long as you don't get sand in your shoes".

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he was also asserting his grown-up-ness today, declaring to Amélie "There are no rules in this house".

Reason No. 350

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because at tea time he said very proudly "Look Mummy, I ate all my fish before I ate all my chips" - which was a first!

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because, after watching a Doctor Who film (from the 1960s complete with wobbly scenery and terrible special effects) she sat down and drew a fab Dalek.

Reason No. 349

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she tried houmous, squid, boquerones, albondigas and chorizo when we had dinner out this evening - and she enjoyed almost all of them!

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he behaved the best he ever has done at the cinema when we went to see The Croods today - was totally entranced and amused by the whole thing.

Reason No. 348

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he lost another tooth today - and like before (and completely unlike Amélie) it virtually dropped out in the middle of a meal with only a little bit of twisting to get it out - but that was accompanied by major tears from Seth!

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she led Seth in a fantastic game of restaurants where she wrote up a menu (lamb, porck, pasta, valinna iceream etc) and then took reservations and orders for food from willing customers (me and Seth!).

Reason No. 347

I love Amélie and Seth more than I did yesterday because it's Easter and we all have lots to be thankful for - not least, chocolate and daffodils!

Reason No. 346

I love Seth and Amélie more than I did yesterday because they were very enthusiastic and helpful in making our Easter cake today - looking forward to eating it tomorrow!

Reason No. 345

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she ran wildly around the house and garden at Chatsworth looking for Easter eggs today, and found all 24 (with Seth's help!).

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because when Amélie asked whether they could play on their iPads after lunch, he said "no Daddy says we aren't allowed to play on our iPads until the end of the day and I don't think it's the end of the day yet is it?"

Reason No. 344

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because in making an Easter card/picture for Nanny Mabel, he told Amélie off for drawing 'a hen which is ginormous and chicks which are teensy weensy'.

I live Amélie more than I did yesterday because in making the same picture, she started with a far more rational question "now should we do this portrait or landscape?"

Reason No. 343

I love Amélie and Seth because they had another good day at home with TWBD but had a major, joint rebellion over food!  They didn't want cheeses toast, the definitely didn't want salmon, and the presented a united front in negotiating for either pasta or fish and chips. Successfully!

Reason No. 342

I love Seth and Amélie more than I did yesterday because they both behaved really well for TWBD who needed to do some work today, so they watched a film, played with their ipads and wrote new stories which they made into books.

Reason No. 341

I love Amélie and Seth more than I did yesterday because although I was in London all day, they clearly had a very productive day, including creating a new friend........

Reason No. 340

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he won at Monopoly against TWBD and Amélie and was very excited about it.

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she showed again that she has no fear - watching Dr Who with the weeping angels which scared the life out of Seth but Amélie found hilarious.

Reason No. 339

I love Amélie and Seth more than I did yesterday because we all had a fabulous day - over 6 inches of snow so we started the day with some sledging - pictures below - then they put on a puppet show (The Ugly Duckling), then we watched a Bond film (Spy Who Loved Me), then they had a drawing competition. A day very well spent!

Reason No. 338

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because when we were waiting to pick Amélie up from school he said "I hope Amélie won the Easter egg competition" which was great because he didn't win the competition at his school.

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she really stuck up for Seth when he was being told off for being naughty by TWBD - and although I told her that she shouldn't side with Seth against Daddy, the sibling bond was great to see.

Reason No. 337

I love Amélie and Seth more than I did yesterday because they are both getting very excited about Easter - Seth made an Easter chick at school and they both made secret Easter cards for me!

Reason No. 336

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because when I picked him up from school he was so focused on his drawing that he didn't want to leave and then spent all the walk to the car explaining exactly what the different bits of the picture were and what each bit did.

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because we decided that she was Seth's mini-Mummy on the way home by the way she was saying "Seth you are dropping a lot of crumbs on the seat you should be more careful!"

Reason No. 335

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because at bedtime when I was saying to her that Seth was being a bit of a sausage, she said "but I like Sethy just the way he is and don't want him to change at all".

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because I bought him a piggy bank from John Lewis as a 'prize' for his fantastic egg, but when we got it out of the packet it was split along the bottom. And although he was really upset, he took it very well. Needless to say, Mr John Lewis is getting another visit from me tomorrow!

Reason No. 334

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he didn't win the egg competition - we woz robbed! - and he was devastated but we had a good chat about life not always being fair and us knowing that Seth's egg was totally fab, so he was happier.

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because as I arrived back from London she handed me a picture she had done which said "Dear Mummy I hope you get an erley train home from Amélie".

Reason No. 333

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she was both incredibly brave - letting us manhandle her to finally get her very wonky tooth out which caused her great pain - and was extremely creative - making a white rabbit out of an egg for her school egg decorating competition.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he had a fantastic time with TWBD making TWB decorated egg - a red dalek.

Reason No. 332

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because, as usual, he's had a creative start to the weekend - making Lego models and planning what he is going to do to decorate his hard boiled egg for school - hopefully more on that tomorrow.

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she was desperate to get out of the house, despite the poor weather, so went out into the garden on her own, ran around and played on the swing.  Ten came back after 20 mins, cold but happy.

Reason No. 331

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she looked totally fab in her 'Victorian Day' costume - 90% of the girls were dressed as maids so she was much more original.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he had his sponsored sports event today - but typically for Seth, couldn't remember what sports he'd done or whether he had won anything.

Reason No. 330

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he lost his first tooth this evening. And he was very peturbed about it, because "I don't like the way I look any more". But I think he looks gorgeous!

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because on the way to school she said "if eggs have baby chickens in them, how do they also have the bits that we eat when we have boiled eggs, and how do they get it in without breaking the shells?"

Reason No. 329

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she sat down when she got home from school, following Seth's example, and drew a fantastically detailed picture of a made-up game involving several of her toys being shot by space aliens and blown up by TNT. But it's definitely not Angry Birds!

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he came home from school, having done a full storyboard of Angry Birds, and sat down to finish it off in full detail.

Reason No. 328

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he continues to be very excited about his Angry Birds game and tonight was very concerned at bedtime to check that I wasn't upset with him because he has got to the angry bird bat pigs in the Hoth section she I've only got to the Tattoine section!  Whatever that might mean!

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she ended up getting 10 out of 12 for the spelling test that she didn't study for last week - so she's definitely a spelling genius!

Reason No. 327

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because I took her to school this morning and on the way she told me that she liked getting merits for 3 10 out of 10 spelling tests but she liked even more getting a merit for getting 3 10 out of 10 for her weekly maths test which she did last week. Which is great because we'd been so focused on spelling and we didn't even know she had a weekly maths test!

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he suddenly burst into song this evening with a near word and note perfect rendition of 'Do You Hear the People Sing' from Les Mis and then sang along while I played it on the piano.

Reason No. 326

I love Seth and Amélie more than I did yesterday because I had the best Mother's Day ever. Not only did I get the handbag 'they' bought me yesterday but I also got a orchid, some chocolates and the piano score for Les Miserables. Heavenly!

Reason No. 325

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she was really keen to do her piano practice after a day out, then did her piano worksheet homework too - a budding composer perhaps?

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he was fantastic at the Manchester Museum on our day out today - Stan the T-Rex was "totally awesome".

Reason No. 324

I love Seth and Amélie more than I did yesterday because there were scenes of extreme excitement when they realised that TWBD had put Angry Birds Star Wars on their iPads. Seth "it's totally awesome and cool and look what happens when you do this....."  Amélie (rather drily) "I think Seth is quite excited about this game!"

Reason No. 323

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because I finally found a suitable 'Victorian' themed outfit for her to wear to school history day next week - a sailor-suit - and it looked really lovely on her. Picture to follow when the whole outfit is sorted.

I live Seth more than I did yesterday because we had his parents evening today and he got a glowing report from his teacher who was full of praise for his reading, writing, behaviour and general fab-ness.

Reason No. 322

I love Seth and Amélie more than I did yesterday because I got home to find them both busily and beautifully drawing dinosaurs. Seth then went further and wrote a description of his dinosaur copied out of the dinosaur book. Very proud pictures below.

Reason No. 321

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she was really excited about seeing TWBD who was away working yesterday. She had written him a note saying she was sorry he had to go to work and was really keen to give it to him this morning.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he was also very excited to show TWBD the picture he drew of the Eiffel Tower after reading his homework book about Paris. He also took it to school to show his teacher and she thought it was great too.

Reason No. 320

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because when I picked him up from school, he double-checked with me that I had remembered his great idea for an Easter egg hunt!  Only a month away but never mind!

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because we had a great discussion when doing her reading homework about the one of succession "but who decides who should be king or queen, what if the little boy prince was a girl would she be queen etc?" - and very difficult to explain why, even though she's the older, if I were queen, Seth would be the next king under the current law!

Reason No. 319

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she is very self-sufficient some time - while Seth was doing his homework she took it upon herself to tidy up all the toys in time for lunch, without being asked or prompted.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because we had a hilarious time doing his reading homework. I was trying to get him to use more expression and to look at things like exclamation marks and question marks to show where the expression should go. But he went completely over the top and we both found it hilariously funny.

Reason No. 318

I love Seth and Amelie and TWBD more than I did yesterday because we had a really fantastic day out in the Peak District and around Peveril Castle.  Everyone had a whale of a time, running around the ruins in the sunshine, and learning things about Medieval life.

Reason No. 317

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because Seth and TWBD were a bit late picking her up from ballet but she had got herself completely dressed and was ready for them - whilst other girls were still half way through being dressed by their parents.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he was singing along to the Les Mis songs and knows half of them now because they have sung some of them at school.

Reason No. 316

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he did something very funny today but I can't remember what it was!  Whatever it was he said "you know something, and this is reall true!" And then did a pretend faint when he said it. But that doesn't help because I can't remember what it was!  But if I remember in the middle of the night, I'll write it up tomorrow!

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because we had her parents' evening tonight and Mrs Hardwick was very positive about everything she does - great at spelling, reading, maths, creative stuff, contributing in class, making friends, working out problems etc. So generally an all round star!

Reason No. 315

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because, despite the fact that Seth was nasty to her and laughed when she fell over, she still argued for him to have a biscuit when they got home from school.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he is very proud that he's got a new best friend called Arrian.  Whether Arrian knows is another matter!

Reason No. 314

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because I was accosted by a bundle of excitement, cuddles and armed with Lego when I got home from London.

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she seems fully recovered from her chest infection and still managed to get 10 out of 10 in spelling and did some fantastic reading for homework tonight.

Reason No. 313

I love Amélie and Seth more than I did the day before yesterday because I had great phone calls with them from London which were along the lines of "yes everyone thought my costume was great, I did well in my spelling test and Grandma sent us some new Lego"!

Reason No. 312

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because we finished the costume today and even he thinks he looks fab and is looking forward to wearing it tomorrow!

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because we had a lovely 'girl' film session after lunch - we didn't want to watch what the boys wanted to watch, so we went upstairs and watched Harry Potter (or at least, Amelie watched the film while I fell asleep).  It was a lovely snuggly couple of hours.

Reason No. 311

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she showed her bravery at the playground up the Heights of Abraham today - doing her mountain goat impression by jumping from thing to thing without any real fear.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he showed his bravery too - even going up on the cable car was very scary for him and then when we were up the top, he even went up the Prospect Tower with its scary spiral staircase.

Reason No. 310

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because we spent a lot of the day sorting out a costume for him to wear on Monday for World Book day - he was very resistant to our idea of The Cat in the Hat but then Grandma read the book to him and we started to make a huge hat, and he came round to the idea.  Picture to follow!

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she has been really good with her antibiotics today, even though she hates the banana flavour, and actually reminded us when we forgot to give her a dose.

Reason No. 309

I love Amélie and Seth more than I did yesterday because we had someone else visiting today and they managed to be quite calm and well-behaved whilst being very excited about having another mug to demonstrate all their toys to.

Reason No. 308

I love Seth more than I did a few days ago because you have to love a boy who manages to keep up his excitement and energy levels for several days in a row.

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she's desperately trying to keep up with Seth in the excitement and energy stakes but is clearly exhausted by her chest infection, cough and being up in the night.

Reason No. 307

I love Amélie more than I did a few days ago because when I said "guess who I saw at St Pancras station" she said "Grandma of course" because clearly I'd bump into Grandma in London. And she was right!

I love Seth more than I did a few days ago because he was super excited about Grandma coming to visit and by the time I got home, after bedtime, all the grown-ups looked completely worn out by him.

Reason No. 306

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he gets so wound up over his Lego making - today he got a new model which he was trying valiantly to make but couldn't work out. So he got more and more upset with himself until he worked it out and then proudly declared "it's all sorted out now Mummy".

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she and Seth were very sweet sharing a secret and giggling at lunch time. She kept whispering things to him and he would giggle then whisper something back.

Reason No. 305

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because, in spite of having a bad cough and cold, and clearly feeling a bit rough, she's been in good spirits and still telling TWBD off when he tried to wind her up that tomorrow is a school day.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he said that he wished it wasn't half term because "I really like learning new things at school".

Reason No. 304

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because, at bedtime, we had a really good conversation about a picture that Seth had done of a dinosaur which is now in my 'secret box'. And Seth was persuading me to show him my secret box and give him his picture back.

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday because she was fantastic today helping me choose and put up new pictures throughout the house. She was very keen to pick good ones of all of us and to put them in good spots around the place.

Reason No. 303

I love Amélie more than I did yesterday (not least because I've worked our how to put the accent on her name on my iPad which she'll be thrilled about!) because I took her to school this morning and we had a lovely grown up conversation on the walk up to her school - subject matter not important but the conversation was very mature. 

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he was very excited and happy when he came home from school that he danced around the living room in his underpants, singing to himself. 

Reason No. 302

I love Seth and Amelie because 'they' bought me a fabulous watch for Valentine's Day and they gave me some lovely cards too. I feel very loved on the day of love - and I hope they do too!

Reason No. 301

I love Amelie and Seth more than I did yesterday because they are both on full 'secret alert' for Valentine's Day tomorrow. When I arrived home there was lots of whispering, and Amelie said she had done something "secret for you and Daddy but it's not a secret to Daddy cos he knows about it". Seth was desperate to know about presents, but not convinced by Daddy's explanation that it was a tube of smarties!

Reason No. 300

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he made a fabulous red truck out of cardboard boxes, with wheels that go round, and he brought it home very proudly this evening.

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she came out of school, very straight-faced, the shouted to the whole playground "I got 12 out of 12!" Which is great considering at the start of the week she only knew about 1 of the correct spellings.

Reason No. 299

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she has had some artwork selected for the Sheffield Young Artist competition so is going to be displayed at Ponds Forge in May - can't wait.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because for the first time tonight he asked what I was going to write in my blog about him. Amelie is normally obsessed with this question but Seth is never bothered.  So I think that's a good sign that he's beginning to care about people's perceptions of him. And I told him I was going to write that he is a gorgeous lovely boy and I adore him. So now I have done!

Reason No. 298

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he sometimes shows flashes of brilliance which he normal hides - like today when he suddenly recited all the days of the week in French.

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because today she told TWBD that he couldn't play football anymore because...... When pressed, she denied it was because he is too old "because you're only 62 Daddy!"

Reason No. 297

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because, when we were out for the day, she suddenly proclaimed "Do you know Mummy, girls don't sweat they passpire"!

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because during our journey he explained lots of things to us about light - that rainbows are made by the sun shining through the rain and all the light splitting up into different colours. And then he said "and you know something else really interesting - black is not a colour". We were all suitably astonished!

Reason No. 296

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because, after last night's fall out over him wanting a new game for his iPad, this evening he said he wanted to ask me something. He wanted me to guess what a word was if he wrote it in the air. But he was worried I would throw his iPad away (last night's threat!). Unfortunately he couldn't spell Mario so we didn't get very far (or throw his iPad away!).

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she brought a load of school work home for us to see before parents evening and it had some fantastic writing and maths in it, including some poetry that she insists she wrote but I can't quite believe it!

Reason No. 295

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she's getting better all the time at the piano - and I can't keep up with her!  She has a piano book with duets where she plays one note with one hand, and I have fiendish accompaniments which I can't get right!

I love Seth more than I did yesterday he learnt a new note at his piano lesson today - F. He the told me that next week he would learn G, the week after H, the week after that I etc.  So he was delighted when I said that pianos only go to G so he's nearly learnt all the notes!

Reason No. 294

I love Seth and Amelie more than I did yesterday because we had a great conversation on the way home from school with Seth saying "do you think paper floats or sinks?" Amelie - "floats". Seth - "correct!"  Seth - "what about a pencil?"  Amelie - "floats". "Correct!"  Seth - "what about cotton?"  Amelie - "floats". "Right and wrong!"  Seth - "A paper clip?"  Amelie - "floats".  "Wrong!"  Lovely!!

Reason No. 293

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because at bedtime, she hadn't had her hair brushed or her bobble taken out for the 3rd night in a row. When I said that I would have to smack Daddy's bottom for forgetting she said "it was my fault really, for not reminding him or doing it myself".

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because his piano playing is going from strength to strength but his big problem is that he plays mostly from memory, then when he forgets the music, he gets completely lost!  But his memory is pretty good!

Reason No. 292

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he has the most acute Star Wars antennae!  TWBD bought some Lego for himself today, double bagged it and hid it but Seth still sniffed it out and was obsessive asking about it. He wasn't persuaded by any of our explanations and we had to resort to threats to shut him up!

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she blows me away sometimes with her welcome home. Today she was desperately excited to see me, wanting big cuddles and to tell me all about her day. It's lovely to come home to!

Reason No. 291

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she moved on from 3 spellings right out of 12 when practising yesterday to getting 12 out of 12 by the end of the day. Hopefully she'll keep this up when tested at school tomorrow.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he was very scared watching "Paranorman" at lunchtime - so bad that he insisted on sitting on TWBD's lap with his head buried - but he gradually got braver and emerged slowly from his cocoon until he enjoyed the end of the film.

Reason No. 290

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because we had a lovely, calm day and he did some fabulous maths homework about relative weights of fruit and veg.

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she told us about how she learns things like her spellings - she said "I lock them in my mind and then I swallow the key so they can't get out!"

Reason No. 289

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because when I got to school to pick her up from ballet, she was fully dressed and ready to go. Unfortunately still in her ballet shoes but never mind....

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because when I picked him up from school he had the most fabulous picture of a helicopter ("an army helicopter Mummy!") and he talked all the way to Amelie's school about how he'd seen it in the film of the BFG and copied it.

Reason No. 288

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he was very brave, picking himself up from really being quite off colour in the morning to having a full day at school including a really good piano lesson.

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she was doing her most throaty chortle when we were doing piano practice, playing the wrong note repeatedly because her fingers were in the wrong place and she couldn't work out why it sounded wrong. 

Reason No. 287

I love Amelie and Seth because I got the most lovely big long kisses and cuddles on the sofa, at the same time,when I got home from work late again. I hate it that I don't get to see them as much as I'd like and they'd like, but the big cuddles make up for it a bit!

Reason No. 286

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he voluntarily did his piano practice with TWBD - not sure whether Seth was practising or Daddy - but apparently, he was enthusiastic, concentrated really well, and was very calm with it.

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she got 11 out of 12 on her very difficult spelling tat yesterday - the only word she got wrong was 'energy' but she managed to get right 'cylinder', 'cellar', 'because' and 'gymnastics' which is pretty good going at 6.

Reason No. 285

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she was very good in deciding which of the presents that TWBD had bought for a party at the weekend - she thought through the options very carefully and came to logical conclusions based on what each girl likes and doesn't like.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because I talked to him on the phone in the evening and he was desperate to explain in some detail about the pictures he brought home from school. Now that I've seen them, they make a lot more sense than the phone description which involved huge giants and farm animals!

Reason No. 284

I love Seth and Amelie more than I did yesterday because they were so good today while we were rearranging furniture. They were told to stay in Seth's room and to come out on the pain of death (or losing their iPad for a week) and they played really nicely with only the occasional giggly moment of daring each other to step over the doorway!

Reason No. 283

I love Amelie and Seth more than I did yesterday because they really loved my slightly experimental roast lamb lunch today - Seth had more lamb than the average adult and Amelie loved the stuffing!

Reason No. 282

I love Seth and Amelie more than I did yesterday because they were thrilled to find that TWBD had downloaded a new game onto their iPads but the lovely thing was that they sat next to each other on the armchair and helped each other play it, showing each other what they had learnt and encouraging each other to go further.

Reason No. 281

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she made me a special 'Get Well Soon' card at school today.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he hummed a pitch-perfect version of the Bruch violin concerto on the way home from school, having heard it once on the radio.

Reason No. 280

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because when he arrived home from school, TWBD had clearly told him to whisper because I might be asleep (poorly). When he saw I was up he was all excited and happy then spoilt it by saying "now we can make as much noise as we want!"

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because when I had a really bad sneezing fit, she handed me her cuddly rhino and said "give Rhino a cuddle and he will make you feel better!"

Reason No. 279

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she not only did a fabulous assembly at school which we got to see, but she has also been moved up a group for phonics and still managed to get 10 out of 10 for her spelling test.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he's now really good at getting himself into and out of his seatbelt without any help. And he's also becoming a really good negotiator trying to persuade us that we really must buy new games for his iPad.

Reason No. 278

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he was very good today about the fact that he was taken to school, really wanted to stay, but was taken home by TWBD because Amelie's school was closed and there was hardly anyone at Seth's school.

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she put on a full performance of her bit in her class assembly, in Waitrose cafe, for her playball teacher.

Reason No. 277

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because Seth was scared watching a Harry Potter film at lunchtime so she told him that he could cuddle up to her and sat there with her arm around him throughout the film.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because when it was bedtime he gave Amelie the biggest, cutest cuddle and kiss goodnight.

Reason No. 276

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he was getting so frustrated at not winning on one of his games that he took the headphones out of their socket and started saying ino the socket " iPad you are being very naughty"!

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because Seth was telling her how she could buy extra powers on her game, but without paying real money, so she listened to him patiently thn said "If you say so, Seth, if you say so" in a very world-weary way!

Reason No. 275

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she had her ballet lesson tonight, then came home and watched ballet on DVD, then got us all doing long pointy toes and floaty arms!

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he had a whale of a time in the snow - what is it about snow and little boys, even ones in shorts?

Reason No. 274

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he was desperate to get rid of me at bedtime and very excited at the prospect of hiding for Daddy and pretending not to be there when he came in for his kiss!

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she brought home a secret note for is bot - my bit said "To Mummy I love you.  I am sorry that you hav to go t work evry day from Amelie xxxxxxx". So am I!

Reason No. 273

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because we had a really grown up conversation tonight about her school assembly next week. She asked me whether she could take any of my bike gear to school so I said she could take my high vis jacket which she thought about and sai "I don't think that's a good idea because Maddie's taking her high vis jacket. And Lucy's taking a reflective head band. So maybe I could take your helmet or lights"

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he came home from school saying they had been reading Mr Men books. So he got out his full set of Mr Men books, took one out and started reading it to himself, laughing at its jokes and coming over to me to read the funny bits out.

Reason No. 272

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because his reading is going from strength to strength - he's now practising raising his eyebrows when there is an exclamation mark so that he gets the right expression into his voice!

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she has got her class assembly next week and the line she has to learn is about Mummy riding her bike to work with a high visibility jacket and lights so that she stays safe!

Reason No. 271

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because I came home from work early and when she went to bed, Amelie said "Did you enjoy being at home with us today?"  To which the answer would have been yes apart from the fact that I was being bombarded with work problems throughout!

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because at bedtime he rushed in to Amelie's room because he just had to explain to her, in some complex detail, how he might get past the next level of Shark Attack which he'd got stuck on. And because he's now got further than me on Temple Run and has promised to show me how!

Reason No. 270

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because I'm currently watching him watching one of his favourite TV programmes and he's practically dancing with delight at it and giggling to himself!

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she was playing games on the iPad with Seth earlier and saying "that's great Seth, you're really good at doing this". I think she's a born teacher!

Reason No. 269

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because we went swimming and she was fab - she hasn't lost her confidence or her determination to keep going, whatever happens.

I loveSeth more than I did yesterday because he is trying really hard with his number bonds to 10 and 20 - he has to think hard about them but really got the concept of the 20s when he knew what the 10s were.

Reason No. 268

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because I love it when he finds something funny, and laughs and laughs hysterically, even when it's really not!

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she had her first piano lesson today and came one excited and desperate to start practising.

Reason No. 267

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because I picked her up from the theatre and she was as excited about getting the bus home as she was about telling me about the ballet - which she was hugely excited about!

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because I showed him some extra tricks on his iPad games this evening and he was absolutely enraptured. At bedtime he said "Thank you Mummy for letting us have all those awesome games to play!"

Reason No. 266

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he came home proudly with a sticker saying "J'ai 6 ans". When I asked what it said, he said "I'm 6". When I said "but what does it say in French" he said "It says I'm 6 in French!"

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she is excited about going to see Swan Lake tomorrow so I printed off a synopsis to show her. Turns out she knew the whole story anyway a recited it to me - apart from all the death at the end which her teachers had clearly glossed over!

Reason No. 265

I love Amelie and Seth more than I did yesterday because when I came back from my overnight stay in London I was greeted with such overwhelming joy and excitement that I almost cried!

Reason No. 264

I love Seth more than I did the day before yesterday because he was desperately excited in the morning about his play date but slightly less forthcoming on the phone in the evening about how it had gone. He doesn't do phones!

I love Amelie more than I did the day before yesterday because she was very good about the fact that she had to go back to school whenSeth was still on holiday and having a play date. But she was very happy at the end of the day about having seen all her friends.

Reason No. 263

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because in the car when Seth was being naughty she said "Seth, you're only making it worse for yourself".

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he was thrilled that he'd got beyond medina computer game but said "Don't worry Mummy, I'll help you when you get to this stage".

Reason No. 262

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because he looks very handsome with a short back and sides having been to the hairdressers for his new term haircut.

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she shared really well today - when Seth ran down the batteries on both his iPad and his camera game, she offered him her iPad and also gave him half of her party cake.

Reason No. 261

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because I took him and Amelie into work this morning to get my laptop fixed and he was fabulous, impressing everyone with his chattyness and his intelligence.

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because at lunchtime she picked 'A Bug's Life' to watch and said 'Mummy we've seen this a lot but you probably don't remember it because you always fall asleep during films!'  I must be getting old!

Reason No. 260

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she was desperate for me to ask TWBD how many out of 10 they has got today - the answer yesterday was 8 and she was very keen to improve!  Luckily the answer today was 10 for behaviour so everyone was happy.

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because when I phoned up from work, all I could hear in the background was happy chattering and laughing as he played and had fun with Amelie.

Reason No. 259

I love Seth more than I did before because he reached a landmark 7 dry days in bed so was rewarded with a Lego ninjago motorbike and he was so excited that he took me through every feature when I got home from work - "can you believe that it does this?" "Did you know it had this man" etc.

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she made Happy New Year cards for the whole family including both cats today, all beautifully written and perfectly spelt.

Reason No. 258

I love Amelie more than I did yesterday because she continues to say some really grown up things like when I asked her to stop playing on her iPad she said "but Mummy I'm just starting to get the hang of it" which sounded very wise!

I love Seth more than I did yesterday because when he realised that I had remembered to record an Octonauts special today he jumped from the floor into my arms and said "Mummy you are such a genius!"